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[Random Painted HIghway]

Man, first battle with abductor on elite and I get the major wind orb to drop, it will be interesting to see how the rates pay off for these new bosses, but abductor is easily manageable since you don't have to go through trash to get there. I am not looking forward to the later elite bosses in this release, even the classic mobs are needing management and limited autoing.

With the ramped up event rewards and better rewards from the dungeons, I may be able to spend less mythril for refreshes during the festival. Also with the festival approaching, I'm no longer caring about losing so due to a capped character since undoubtedly I will hit 50/65 with all my non core characters.

 

[show me your skeleton]

so this potential % change, did they flat out say about it in the JP game or was it deduced somehow?

 

[Razmos]

I'm really conflicted about what to focus on banner wise.

Cloud banner 1 is worth pulling for since I need VII synergy really badly and Cloud is going to be used forever so his SSB would be ideal. The Keepsake Ribbon would be great too as well as Katana or a weapon for Tifa

On the other hand though Hope's banner 2 is amazing with the Paladin for Snow (AoE Dismissal) Vega's for Sazh, Blazefire Saber, Binding Rod, and I badly need XIII synergy as well though not quite as much.

Normally I'd probably have enough mythril for an 11 pull on both.. but with the orb festival coming up :/

 

[Random Painted HIghway]

I think people are overestimating the effect of the increased five star pull, at least the increasing with each failed pull aspect. particularly since you have to pull the same banner until it hits, you have to be prepared with enough mythril to take advantage of the increase.

My Jp account has: 9sbs 2 ssbs, 3 nonsbs for a total of 14 five stars. One of which is the excalipoor
My intl account has 12sbs and 14 non sbs for a total of 26 natural 5 stars, one of which is the free zantetsuken

I've done I believe 12 50 mythril pulls on the Jp account, some were for the half price pulls, with three of those netting me zero five star items. In which case I would then do one pulls until I netted something. I've had to do that on three banners. I have not done the mog pull with the free five star at the end.

I have no idea how many pulls I've done on the Intl account, but it is probably around double to 2.5x the jap account. So much mythril spent so fast due to the half price pulls and the rain of free mythril and the fact that I am dumping most of the three star pulls. So no mythril to inventory management

So yes, it is better, but if you're expecting two to three five stars per 11 pull, you are going to be in for disappointment when you hit 8 threes and 3 4s.

Just some friendly words of expectations management.

 

[Nohar]

I'm perfectly aware of that. I just want us to have the same odds as Japan, that's all.

 

[Random Painted HIghway]

I'm perfectly aware of that. I just want us to have the same odds as Japan, that's all.

That i agree with completely.


Re: the new skills

I created and honed to r4 lullaby, stutter step, mana's Paean and will be throwing a welcome back to the action party for tyro when facing Multi bosses from here on, will make meteor and the summons more useful, and since I carry the, for the trash anyway, will help maximize the impact the armor one doesn't seem helpful unless we got a beefed up bladeblitz or you use a physical attack all rw like sephiroth, which seems suboptimal compared to a mitigation rw.

 

[elty]

Is there any skill other than "Stop" that can inflict stop?

 

[Balphon]

Is there any skill other than "Stop" that can inflict stop?

Shadowbind (Celerity 4), Seal Evil (Aerith SB), Threaten (Auron SB), Stunner (Shark shared SB)

 

[Falk]

I really want my NE4*s back

Crafted Shadowbind.

AND HONED IT ONCE WHY

 

[RocketDarkness]

I really want my NE4*s back

Crafted Shadowbind.

AND HONED IT ONCE WHY

That is a tragic story, Falk. So sad.

 

[Road]

Demon Wall everywhere.

I think due to the different schedule, Japan didn't get bosses repeating so close between events and history dungeons. I don't know which is better: In one hand, I get to reuse pretty much the same party for both; on the other, I don't even want to see another Demon Wall and Isaaru ever again.

As for Belias, the history version is immune to sap. Vaan's 15 min of fame already over. That made the event fight easier.

 

[Negator]

How is the Garuda fight? I have everything else down, it's just the thought of creating a party for it that sucks.

 

[RocketDarkness]

How is the Garuda fight? I have everything else down, it's just the thought of creating a party for it that sucks.

Garuda's pretty weak. He only does single-target physical attacks, so you can completely neuter him with Draw Fire + Backrow. Chuck Protect on 'em if you're really worried (via RM, ideally). Beyond that, just nuke him with non-Holy magic and any ranged attacks you might have. If you've got a decent ranged weapon you can apply Mental Break(Down), or if you bring a bard you can use the new Mana's Paean to assist in the murder. Make sure you bring Dark or Drain (but NOT Drain Strike) to hit his weakness for the target score.

 

[elty]

How is the Garuda fight? I have everything else down, it's just the thought of creating a party for it that sucks.

The event one is very weak. Just a mage using drain/dark and someone with mental break is enough.

The elite story version is a bit harder, but still 2 mages, one with waterja and one with drain is enough. I also has two others with gun to debuff.

 

[johnsmith]

Decided to use these new dungeons to get the RMs I'm missing. I have Gordon and Kimahri in my party.

I've made a huge mistake.

 

[Kenai]

They....are all kinda bad, except Mana's Paean.

? The reduction dances have the same % as a normal break and hit all targets. They don't do damage, but i can definitely see some use for them, especially with a mage heavy party and Stutter Step.

 

[Falk]

Forgot to top everyone's HP before the boss stage on Dark Bahamut elite.

Oops

 

[RocketDarkness]

Forgot to top everyone's HP before the boss stage on Dark Bahamut elite.

Oops

The Misadventures of Falk

 

[Falk]

Eh, no biggie, restarted app, didn't continue, redid previous stage again. RIP 40 stam.

 

[elty]

Wow the ++ fight is total BS. Two random spell hit the same person and I am dead.

Have my ATB bar almost full, then before I can Shellga got 2 AE in a row and 3 people died.

 

[Balphon]

? The reduction dances have the same % as a normal break and hit all targets. They don't do damage, but i can definitely see some use for them, especially with a mage heavy party and Stutter Step.

Yeah, but I think the use case of an AoE heavy fight where you'd actually want to bring Mog or Tyro is fairly rare. They'll be more useful when we get a better support character with Dance (i.e. Faris).

Though if anything the fact that Stutter Step does no damage is probably a good thing since it can consequently be used on a sleeping target.

 

[HungOverOnATues]

Yeah, but I think the use case of an AoE heavy fight where you'd actually want to bring Mog or Tyro is fairly rare.

Lenna can also use 4* Dancer abilities. I have her in my planned party for the EX++ fight - just farming one last NE orb to create Stop before I try it out.

 

[Kenai]

Yeah, but I think the use case of an AoE heavy fight where you'd actually want to bring Mog or Tyro is fairly rare. They'll be more useful when we get a better support character with Dance (i.e. Faris).

Though if anything the fact that Stutter Step does no damage is probably a good thing since it can consequently be used on a sleeping target.

I guess it depends. Tyro does w/e and Mog's 4* WHM means Dispel, Protect/Shellga, Diaga, Slowga, Curaga/ja ect. Iirc Mog's magic stats aren't horrible either. He'd actually fulfill a similar role to Quistis I guess but AoE, which admittedly is not ideal but at least functional.

 

[Balphon]

Lenna can also use 4* Dancer abilities. I have her in my planned party for the EX++ fight - just farming one last NE orb to create Stop before I try it out.

I've had her stuck at 50 so long I forgot they added that to her. She'd make for the best choice among the current options for certain.

I guess it depends. Tyro does w/e and Mog's 4* WHM means Dispel, Protect/Shellga, Diaga, Slowga, Curaga/ja ect. Iirc Mog's magic stats aren't horrible either. He'd actually fulfill a similar role to Quistis I guess but AoE, which admittedly is not ideal but at least functional.

Mog has the lowest MND and second lowest RES of any character with 4*/5* WHM. He's in kind of a weird spot where his average stat level is high (he actually has the highest cumulative stat total in the game, IIRC), but they are individually mediocre to bad.

In all cases among dancers he'd probably lose to either a dedicated support (Faris, Rikku) or a dedicated mage (Lenna, Penelo, Kefka).

 

[CuthbertAllgoodz]

Eh, no biggie, restarted app, didn't continue, redid previous stage again. RIP 40 stam.

Does he have less HP than his +++ counterpart from a few weeks ago? With 4 waves of trash before, my mages cannot reach him with as many spells... I am scared to run out before he dies.

 

[Falk]

Seems to be ~240k. Letting him constantly Flare himself still works wonders actually, if you get the timing down. Two casts (reflect/dispel) at the right time guarantees you 9999x2.

edit: I've nearly sold the XII accessory a few times now because it looks like a 4* scarletite.

 

[CuthbertAllgoodz]

Seems to be ~240k. Letting him constantly Flare himself still works wonders actually, if you get the timing down. Two casts (reflect/dispel) at the right time guarantees you 9999x2.

I am lucky to get 2 once in a while. He often cures himself or do a physical attack but at least one flare. Maybe something is off with my timing.

 

[Falk]

From what I understand (I know HOW to do it, but the WHY is a little bit of conjecture) when he's got reflect on him (whether self-buffed or applied by you) you want the dispel to land AFTER the countdown message, but BEFORE his action. The countdown is an interrupt at full ATB, and his castbar starts after that.

That makes him stick in his reflect AI for an additional turn, which means that on top of an additional free 9999 for that scripted cast of flare on himself, it you can punch him with your casters and hope he counter-flares, doing even more damage.

tl;dr when your dispel guy is at full ATB, cast reflect on him with another person, then WAIT with your dispel guy selected, and when the countdown message pops up (the game pauses), hit dispel. This will make dispel land right before he casts flare on himself, for aforementioned additional turn of reflect-state AI.

 

[Road]

History Elite Belias has 40% / 45% (phase 1 / phase 2) chance to cast Fire, compared to 20% / 20% of the event, which translates to he only casts Fire all the time. On the other hand, it has less def/res and no break resistance.

 

[Balphon]

They fixed the Raithwall mistake for the new dungeons, but not the old ones.

Hilarious.

 

[CuthbertAllgoodz]

Thanks Falk, I was dispelling asap... That will help a lot!

 

[johnsmith]

I can't believe we're less than 2 weeks away from level 80 cloud, and Terra's barely getting her first MC.

Not sure which banner I want to save my Mythril for. I'm thinking either an FF4, FF5, or FF9, as I still don't have a natural 5* retaliate weapon for those.

 

[Nohar]

Well, the Elite fights of the new batch of paintings are no jokes. Classic Belias turns out to be quite deadly, even with the reduced difficulty. Don't underestimate Belias, White Dragon and Dark Bahamut: bring your A-Team and mitigation, period (and remember that some bosses will counterattack physical attacks, such as White Dragon).

 

[Razmos]

Going back through some elites now, I'm on Saronia Catacombs (FFIII, 102 difficulty, boss is Odin) and the trash mobs take like 4 hits to kill and one of them just did 2500 damage with a Blizzaga. Good lord.

And that's only dungeon update 8, I shudder to think how much harder it gets. (then again FFIII trash mobs are by far the most annoying in the game)

 

[Star Falcon]

Going back through some elites now, I'm on Saronia Catacombs (FFIII, 102 difficulty, boss is Odin) and the trash mobs take like 4 hits to kill and one of them just did 2500 damage with a Blizzaga. Good lord.

And that's only dungeon update 8, I shudder to think how much harder it gets. (then again FFIII trash mobs are by far the most annoying in the game)

Hahaha i can't wait for this... still quite far behind the rest of you guys though.

Trying to work on my Stamina at the moment (101 as of writing), just did the FFV - Desert of Shifting Sands. How freakin' annoying is that sand worm boss. The targeting will usually just go for the empty holes and trigger its Gravity attack. Will have to go back and do it again for Mastery :/

 

[Falk]

Yo, Sand Worm boss is actually pretty damn far along for someone who started a month ago!

Of course, there's still a smorgasbord of Elites to do. All the best!

 

[Star Falcon]

Ha yeah I play it pretty much every day. Stamina overflows a bit usually but it's keeping me hooked and dethroned Hearthstone for my iPhone gaming time. Events wise i'm clearing up to the 90 difficulty ones, then usually running out of steam in terms of abilities. Hoping to address that in the Orb Fest and get some serious honing done!

The UI still feels clunky as hell at times, as does the network code. All in all though it's great for someone who grew up playing (the first 10) Final Fantasy games several times, hitting all the right nostalgia notes in terms of animations, sprites, music and characters. Lot's of different options for party choice so most of the time you can use whoever you like... at least so far.
Golbez & Y'Shtola have been mainstays due to me getting lucky on their SB weapons, and then I've also got Cloud, Firion, Auron, and Rydia to level 50 or higher (Tidus, Kain and P.Cecil soon to follow!)

 

[Jyrii]

Last night I actually dreamed of doing 50 mythril pull and only getting 3* items. Guess it is time to stop playing in bed

I'm scared to go against Dark Bahamut. I fear that my party isn't worthy yet.

 

[Razmos]

The UI still feels clunky as hell at times

Good thing it's getting revamped <3

Do we have an estimate as to when that is coming by the way? We must be nearly there by now right?

 

[Star Falcon]

Good thing it's getting revamped <3

Do we have an estimate as to when that is coming by the way? We must be nearly there by now right?

Just read up on a preview of that for the first time, looks so much better!

 

[MicH]

The trash mobs in the new XII elites are annoying. More than 9999 health, can cast blind AND AoE magic. Ugh

 

[Random Painted HIghway]

Good thing it's getting revamped <3

Do we have an estimate as to when that is coming by the way? We must be nearly there by now right?

I think we're probably looking at it for January or February unless they roll it out really early. It is quite amazing compared to what we have. A ton of little improvements that are great, like there is a button that will upgrade your weapons and armors without having to do the work yourself, and same with exp eggs. The ability to change characters, abilities, equips without getting dumped back to the main menu is really a time saver. One of my few complaints is that there are only four orbs on a row I. The inventory instead of five, meaning he majors are pushed down a row and things don't line up. On ipad4 at least.

 

[Nohar]

I need to finish Cultists' Tower before beginning the Elite paintings. I am not looking forward doing Belias, White Dragon and Dark Bahamut again...

 

[Falk]

Thanks Falk, I was dispelling asap... That will help a lot!

FWIW, after I made that mistake of not topping up, I redid the previous stage and blew one RW (Yuna heal/SB) and then attempted again. Eiko died right off the bat still because I'm an idiot and had the wrong armor equipped (rofl) so I essentially 4-manned him and he flared himself to death for the last ~15% of his hp.

This was my setup

Without Eiko, I basically didn't have my party +MAG, and no forcing reflect, meaning Cecil had to tank a few extra hits.

Without forcing reflect, the timing works out that he'll practically always self-reflect after the 3-count, so I used Meteor and Valefor then just in case he got it while casting bars were charging (hitting self with Bioga = hurts). Also defended before every Megaflare.

With that 5th person this should be even more manageable. He'll constantly be stuck in flare-self mode so you could even sack Cecil for more damage or more trash-clearing (Diaga because why not + Curaga to help top up during trash stages to not have to blow a Yuna RW. Just give the guy Double Hit to maximize exploiting counter flares.)

Not saying it's easy but the difference between properly exploiting his AI and not is night and day. 3 5* FFIV armor made his subsequent Megaflare damage literally negligible since I was paranoid and defended before Megaflares, but even a full party of Black Cowls should be able to do this. (Rydia ended the fight with 2/3 hp)

From my abortion of a run:

Some time after being out of abilities. Heavy Regen just ran out, Dark Bahamut just flared himself again. Screencap was at the start of another Megaflare which I tanked. Then, waited doing nothing till Count 3 (Cecil took hits to the face like a MAN with Bastion/Defend) and then dispelled one last time and went to town with everyone punching and he flared himself 4 times (lol)

AT LEAST I GOT EXPERT OK?

 

[Razmos]

One of my few complaints is that there are only four orbs on a row I. The inventory instead of five, meaning he majors are pushed down a row and things don't line up. On ipad4 at least.

Oh snap, I love the way they line up in the current UI, it's so pretty!

Anyway, attempting Odin elite was a waste of 81 stamina lol, I think Sentinel's Grimoire, Protect and Power Breakdown all ran out like the turn before he used Zantetsuken, I've never seen my party die so brutally lol.

second attempt went far better, but I ran out of abilities about 3 quarters of the way through and he ruined my day with Zantetsuken and hits of 1000+ with basic attacks.

I think I'm going to try again with an Advance + Retaliate + Draw Fire strategy once Gilgamesh is released and hone Power Breakdown and Protectga some more. I'm in no rush to complete it.

 

[Starwolf_UK]

Japan is seeing quests revised as of November:
https://www.reddit.com/r/FFRecordKe...a_quests_being_revamped_in_early_november_jp/
The no level FFXIV character quests were a sign...

I need to finish Cultists' Tower before beginning the Elite paintings. I am not looking forward doing Belias, White Dragon and Dark Bahamut again...

For the latter two I'm kind of worried about ability conservation with respect to the trash mobs (yeah Dark Bahamut one can fall back on making it flare itself) plus they all have shards so must be done (well actually current stamina max is 137 +1 shard so one could be skipped till the next dungeon update). MCs too and Ricard is a nice RM (a better version of Josef's one, removes the defence boost for more attack).

second attempt went far better, but I ran out of abilities about 3 quarters of the way through and he ruined my day with Zantetsuken and hits of 1000+ with basic attacks.

I think I'm going to try again with an Advance + Retaliate + Draw Fire strategy once Gilgamesh is released and hone Power Breakdown and Protectga some more. I'm in no rush to complete it.

Zantetsuken is unavoidable physical and will very likely OHKO under advance so just pray the 15% chance he can use it never happens if you go down that route (I've been down that route).

 

[Falk]

I got Gladiator's MC.

Why, why does the game punish me so. I'm still barely recovering from the shock of getting Kimahri's MC.

 

[Razmos]

Zantetsuken is unavoidable physical and will very likely OHKO under advance so just pray the 15% chance he can use it never happens if you go down that route (I've been down that route).

Draw Fire increases defense though doesn't it?

 

[ActStriker]

Just beat Belias. It went relatively painlessly.

 

[Red Mage]

Just read up on a preview of that for the first time, looks so much better!

It doesn't just look better, it runs SO much better.